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Polyglots and Hyperpolyglots | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7186 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes  12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 1 of 28 20 February 2005 at 12:26am | IP Logged |
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I have a found a new concept on Wikipedia - that of hyperpolyglots
They grant this 'title' to anybody who already speaks 7 languages. It seems to me over generous. I almost speak 6 languages, yet would be be confortable to be described as a 'polyglot', yet a soon-to-be 'hyperpolyglot' I know that this largely depends on the way each person defines these words, but I personally would not call myself a polyglot unless I speak 10 languages or so. What do you guys think? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Malcolm Triglot Retired Moderator Senior Member Korea, South Joined 7125 days ago 500 posts - 515 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 2 of 28 20 February 2005 at 12:43am | IP Logged |
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I just read the page and it defined a hyperglot as one who speaks 6 or more languages. Francois, you're already a hyperglot according to Wikipedia. I personally think of a polyglot as speaking 5 or more languages fluently, while a hyperglot could perhaps speak 10 or more. It seems that the more one studies languages, the higher their standards become.
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| victor Tetraglot Moderator United States Joined 7128 days ago 1098 posts - 1056 votes 6 sounds Speaks: Cantonese*, English, FrenchC1, Mandarin Studies: Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 28 20 February 2005 at 1:56pm | IP Logged |
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Wikipedia also says that anybody who speaks 2 or more languages are polyglots. I agree with Malcolm's definitions.
I hope I will learn to speak more languages in the years ahead, but afraid that I will lose that "ability" of learning good accents, aquring language quickly when one is still young. Francois, can you share with us your experiences at school learning English and German? (which I assume you did) Edited by administrator on 29 March 2005 at 4:10am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ProfArguelles Moderator United States foreignlanguageexper Joined 7066 days ago 609 posts - 2102 votes | Message 4 of 28 29 March 2005 at 2:12am | IP Logged |
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The intention may be good, but this just adds unnecessary confusion. If polyglots could actually agree on the exact number of languages they know (which they can't), then it might make sense to put the number before the -glot, but not to have more terms like this.
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| Billy Newbie Joined 6991 days ago 15 posts - 15 votes | Message 5 of 28 29 March 2005 at 10:22am | IP Logged |
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I'd just say it was more than two myself. Monogamy, bigamy, polygamy... then again, who ever heard of a polycycle? That's why I prefer the term "multilingual". Polyglot sounds like something you might get stuck in your carpet. But if my Greek serves me right, 'polyglot' means 'many tongues' and 'hyperpolyglot' means 'more than many tongues'... the latter sounding like a term made up by an arrogant polyglot who just knew a huge number of languages.
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| Malcolm Triglot Retired Moderator Senior Member Korea, South Joined 7125 days ago 500 posts - 515 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 6 of 28 27 April 2005 at 7:26pm | IP Logged |
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One of the things that made Mezzofanti great was that he also learned exotic languages instead of just sticking to familiar European languages. He wasn't able to master the spoken forms of many of these languages, but I'm sure he would have if he'd had access to the technology we have today.
When I look at a polyglot's list of language, I tend to pay more attention to the combination of languages than the number. For example, someone with English, German, and 8 romance languages would know 10 languages, but I'd be far more impressed with someone who speaks English, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese. I tend to look at how difficult each language is and how different they are from one another. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| fay Newbie United States freewebs.com/flowing Joined 6938 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes | Message 7 of 28 20 May 2005 at 10:11am | IP Logged |
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Does (hyper)polyglottery include dead languages, constructed languages, auxiliary languages, and dialects? Edited by administrator on 20 May 2005 at 10:14am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7186 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 28 20 May 2005 at 10:15am | IP Logged |
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Absolutely, according to me a person who would know 10 dead languages or dialects is a polyglot. Ardaschir's father could read every single Romance dialect, I think this only makes in a polyglot.
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